Marinette woke up and yawned as the early morning sunlight greeted her as it shined through the window.
It was time for a new day and even though the ravenette wanted to go back to sleep again, she knew she had a lot to do.
She turned towards her nightstand to look at the time on her phone only to notice a tiny pillow with a tiny bug mouse thing. At that realization, Marinette almost let out a terrified squeak when she remembered that the tiny bug mouse she was terrified of was actually Tikki, her kwami.
Suddenly, yesterday's events started coming back to Marinette. Tikki and the miraculous, bumping into Théo and his new girlfriend, wishing for Théo and herself to get back together again…
"Tikki?" Marinette called to her kwami as the tiny goddess started waking up. She stretched for a couple of seconds before rubbing her eyes and flying over to her chosen. The young designer smiled at her kwami. The similar human traits she possessed made her even cuter than she already was.
"Good morning Marinette!" Tikki greeted, "Ready to see if your wish came true?"
The ravenette smiled as she entered the kitchen, Tikki following in suit. She opened up the cookie jar as Tikki gladly accepted and chewed happily.
"So, um, how exactly does the wish thing work?" Marinette asked as she started making coffee with her Nespresso. Nothing felt any different, and so far everything was pretty much the same. The only thing that convinced her otherwise was that Tikki was right next to her.
"I don't exactly know myself," the kwami admitted, "the miraculous just does its own thing, even though I grant the wishes."
"Oh," Marinette sighed as her Nespresso finished making her coffee. What if her wish with Théo never came true after all?
Seeing her chosen in distress, Tikki tried to reassure the ravenette that things were going to be alright.
"I promise you that in all my life, the miraculous had always made a wish came true, even if some of the outcomes weren't the best. Why don't you try calling Théo or something? Maybe it'll help jumpstart your wish?" Tikki suggested.
It didn't hurt to try right? She took a sip of coffee before reaching for her phone and dialing her ex's number.
"Hello?" A sleeping voice greeted her from the other side of the screen.
Marinette gathered her courage as she replied, "Théo? It's Marinette."
There was a pause before answering. "Uh ok? Why are you even calling me?"
The ravenette bit her lip. Too late to go back now.
"It's too early to call anyone at this hour. You know I like sleeping in. Or is it about that Christmas dinner later?" Théo spoke up again.
Oh, thank goodness! He was only questioning her because he was sleepy! However, that didn't explain the dinner plans. Christmas dinner? She didn't have any Christmas dinners planned, other than the one with her parents and Adrien. Oh! She almost forgot!
She pressed the phone away from her ear as she muted her side of the call.
"Tikki, can you remind me that I have to call Adrien later? I need to tell him when we're having dinner with my parents."
The little kwami came from behind the cookie jar and nodded her head since her mouth was full of cookie crumbs.
Smiling Marinette got back to her call, "Sorry about that Théo. I was just checking my calendar. What Christmas dinner?"
"Don't tell me you forgot about our date later?"
She almost dropped the phone from shock. "Date? As in, something only girlfriends and boyfriends do?"
"Yeah, or did I not tell you?" He paused as he waited for her to answer. However, Marinette was too busy grinning from delight. She had a boyfriend again! And not just anyone, but Théo, her old ex! Ex-ex? Was that a word?
"Babe, are you feeling well? You're usually the more punctual one out of the both of us?" He stated as Marinette did a happy dance in the kitchen, not that he could see her right now.
"No, of course, I remembered," she grinned. She sounded too happy just from hearing about dinner, even in her own ears. "I just needed a reminder of what time it was?"
"We're going to this cafe a block from your place. Around eightish?" Théo asked.
Tikki gave Marinette a thumbs up as the ravenette beamed I'm returned. Or rather was it a paws up? Tikki didn't look like she had thumbs.
"It's a date! See you on Christmas!" she smiled, about to hang up only to hear her boyfriend speak again.
"But the dates tonight? I have an art thing in London on Christmas remember?" she could hear his confusion through the phone.
"Right! Later!"
She hung up before he could ask any more questions about her odd behavior.
Tikki flew up to Marinette and congratulated her.
"Can you believe it, Tikki? I have a date again! The wish worked," the ravenette beamed.
The kwami giggled as she flew around her. "Of course it did! I did tell you that all your wishes would come true wouldn't it?"
The girl didn't reply. Instead, she rushed to her closet to find the perfect outfit to wear. After all, this was a Christmas miracle to celebrate!
MLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLB
Théo was official late. And not the typical 10 minutes "the traffic was horrible" late, but a full hour late! And an extra 17 minutes, but who's really counting?
Just when Marinette decided to take her leave, Théo burst through the cafe door, eyes scanning the area until he spotted her.
"I'm so sorry I'm late!" he immediately apologized as he slid into their booth.
Marinette raised an eyebrow, wanting to know why her boyfriend didn't make it on time, except he didn't give her an excuse. Instead, he was just scanning the items on the menu. She let out a tiny sigh as she sank back into her seat. It was typically normal that Théo did this anyways. Usually the most he's ever been was 45 minutes late, but an exception could be made, she supposed.
She swore it happened every time, even though they didn't go out much.
Their date at the carnival last year was a disaster at first. Marinette nearly finished riding on all the rides when Théo appeared, but it carried on smoothly afterward. They decided to play at a bunch of game booths, and Théo won almost every game, even though he was awful at some, resulting in a waste of money.
And that time where she went over to his place for dinner, she had to stay in the apartment hallway for 10 minutes before he opened the door. Turns out he just woke up from his nap at that time.
A bunch of similar things happened on their other dates too, but Marinette never said anything in case Théo might've thought that she was a bad girlfriend.
"So how long are you going to be gone for your art thing?" the ravenette asked to start their conversation.
Théo shrugged as he flipped a page in the menu, "A week at most, I guess."
Marinette nodded. She had holiday plans with Adrien and Alya anyways.
"Are you going to explore the city then?" She wanted to go to London for a while now, but she never had the time or cash.
"It'll be nice for a change," he said as he finally decided on what he wanted to eat. The waitress took his order, and Marinette just ordered a hot chocolate since she ate earlier without him.
Once that was done, Marinette continued on with the conversation, "A change is always nice to have, once in a while."
"It is," Théo agreed before frowning briefly, "And no offense, babe, but it was getting boring just hanging out with you at my apartment all the time you know? But next week I get to feel free! Drinking with some of my artist buds, traveling, maybe getting drunk, who knows?"
He let out a tiny chuckle as he slipped out his phone, not interested in the conversation any longer.
Free? Marinette thought. While at times the ravenette did think that hanging out at the apartment was kinda dull, she never thought that it was any form of burden. She took out her sketchbook from her bag, as she doodled in it as she got lost in thought. After a while, she gathered her courage to speak up.
"Hey Théo," the ravenette swallowed, her voice sounding small. Théo looked up and gave her a questioning look.
"Why do you keep me as your girlfriend?" she finally asked.
Théo was silent for a moment giving it some thought.
"Well," he began, "For one thing you're very nice and cute. And this relationship we have is comfortable."
Comfortable...comfortable, she repeated in her head. Comfortable wasn't a word used to spend time with someone you love, or at least like-like. Comfortable didn't necessarily mean that Théo was really in love with her. Comfortable was a word to use in a relationship when you liked a person well enough to stay in that particular relationship just because you don't want to be single. All of a sudden Marinette felt a little sick to her stomach.
Apparently, it just dawned to her that she was not a top priority in Théo's life. Was she at all? It would explain all the late dates, and why he moved on to Aurore.
Just when she was about to speak up, the waitress interrupted her.
"Is there anything else you would like to order. The kitchen is closing up in 10 minutes," said a familiar voice.
Marinette turned her head to the waitress only to notice that it was Aurore.
"Aurore?" the ravenette all but squeaked out.
The blonde looked up from her notepad before looking over her outfit, most likely searching for a nametag. There wasn't one. Marinette sighed. This meant that she needed to make an excuse for why she knew her.
She squinted at her for a moment before she stepped back and had a genuine smile on her face, "Marinette?"
All of a sudden all sorts of questions went through the poor girl's head. What if the miraculous messed up reality and changed the people she knew in life? What if the wish made Aurore her childhood friend instead of Adrien? What if the miraculous didn't completely change everything and forgot to wash over Aurore's memory and she was just playing nice for now? What if-
"It's been forever since I saw you since those design classes over the summer? I can't believe you still remember me," her face lit up, not knowing the relief that washed over the ravenette.
She remembered those design classes alright. It only covered the basics of design, much to her disappointment. In the end, it turned out to be a waste of cash since she practically knew everything that they talked about. Yet, she didn't remember Aurore in particular.
Marinette decided to go along with the conversation, "I almost didn't recognize you! You look so different!"
Of course, the ravenette didn't know whether she looked different since then or not. She was just making everything up as she went along.
"Definitely," she grinned, "I was in a bit of a rebellious phase back then with my parents so I dyed my hair an awful color of black and purple. My hair sort of resembled a stripe pattern back then, but thankfully I have my natural blonde color again."
And all of a sudden Marinette remembered who she was. "Stormy?"
She was Marinette's partner in that class. She was quite a sight to remember alright, but she had an even better personality.
"Don't remind me of that old nickname," she rolled her eyes playfully, "You look completely different too! I don't think I would have remembered you if you didn't have that sketchbook."
She pointed at one of her designs on the page. It dawned to the ravenette that she showed Stormy some of her best sketches.
"I would recognize a Marinette original anywhere. They're still the best designs I've seen to this day," Aurore grinned.
"That would mean that you finally got into the model industry," Marinette smiled back. Stormy used to rant about it all the time, on how it was her dream to have her face recognized all over Paris. It turned out her dream came true.
"I'm actually a Weather Girl now since I won the KIDZ+ contest. Ever since then, my publicity raised up. And you remember Alec Cataldi? He's a host at that station too!"
Alec was known as the class clown in Marinette's opinion, but she remembered how Stormy used to harbor a tiny crush of him.
"Did you ever ask him out yet?" she smirked as Aurore shyly tucked a stray lock behind her ear.
"I wish," she smirked, "but he has a girlfriend, so I'm still available in the market. What about your date?"
Marinette almost forgot that Théo was there as she turned her attention back to him. Turns out Théo was listening to the conversation all along since he immediately jumped in to introduce himself.
"Théo Barbot. A pleasure to meet you," he shook her hand.
Aurore smiled as she looked at him. "Good catch," she mouthed to Marinette as she tilted her head towards the artist.
"It seems surprising that a girl as pretty as you is on the market and nobody has taken an interest to you yet," Théo all but flirted with her.
"Flatter. Maybe they have, but I just don't notice their affections," she replied.
She spent a few more minutes at their table before she was called back to work.
"It was nice seeing you again Marinette, and nice meeting you Théo," Aurore smiled before going away.
"Likewise," Marinette replied back with a final wave.
She and Théo asked for the check before they paid and headed back to Marinette's apartment since Théo was keen on dropping her off.
In the past, nightly strolls with Théo were the highlight of her night. And now...she thought back to Théo's words on how things were comfortable. And it was. They made small talk and when they finally reached her door, Théo slowly leaned in to kiss her. Except, this didn't give Marinette the feelings of butterflies like it did before. Nor was she feeling any joy or warmth like it was described in a great novel or movie. Théo seemed to read her thoughts because he made a last minute turn to kiss her cheek.
"I hope you have a good night, babe," he departed, walking down the hall only for Marinette to stop him. Curiously, he turned back around to face her.
Now or never, Marinette thought.
"Théo, you know you don't have to stay in a relationship just because it's comfortable, you know," she quoted on what he said earlier that evening.
"I know. But you're a great girl Marinette," Théo answered, unsure of where this conversation was going.
She nodded. Was she really going to go through with this? She thought back to how he and Aurore interacted tonight. Her mom used to tell her that everything happens for a reason, that the universe always found ways to correct itself in the end. Unfortunately for Marinette, it took her a while to figure out that the universe was right about her love life too. Théo and her...they just weren't meant to be together.
"And that's exactly why," she swallowed, "that I have to let you go."
Théo said nothing for a moment, before answering.
"Ok."
He wasn't putting up a fight or anything. Nor was he angry or asking why. He was just accepting things for the way they were.
"If it makes you happy, then I'm glad I dated you, Marinette. I hope you find someone eventually."
"You too."
They leaned in for an awkward hug, but the ravenette found that she preferred this goodbye over their past breakup for sure.
When they finally both let go, Marinette was the first to speak up. "You know that Aurore is still single right?"
Théo looked at her in shock, and if she was him, she figured that she would've acted the exact same way.
"I saw the way you looked at her tonight. Aurore is an amazing girl too. Just treat her with the respect she deserves alright?" Marinette meant all her words this time. It just took her a while to accept that people moved on.
He nodded as she closed the door.
And when she finally heard his footsteps go away, Tikki went up to give her a hug on her cheek.
Marinette let her tears fall, but the kwami didn't mind. And this time, she didn't need anybody to help her with her break up.
Unfortunately, if there was anything the ravenette hated, it was being alone.
"You're not alone, Marinette. You have plenty of people who love you. Just think about your parents and Adrien. Would it help you if I called him over right now?" Tikki spoke up.
She didn't even ask how Tikki knew what she was thinking about. She was just magic.
"Thanks for caring Tikki. But I need to figure out what I need to do by myself. Adrien doesn't need to bear my problems with me."
The kwami nodded, "I'm proud of you Marinette. But remember, you also have me to cheer you up too."
The two of them spent the rest of the night in Marinette's bedroom where she made tiny outfits for Tikki to try on. Turns out, the ladybug miraculous hasn't been used in a few decades, so the kwami thought it was a nice change do something out of the earrings.
Before Marinette fell asleep, she couldn't help but think about the miraculous powers that Tikki granted.
"Tikki? The universe always find a way to balance things out right?"
The little deity looked at her and nodded. "I suppose so. But what brought this on?"
"My mother used to tell me stories about soulmates before I went to bed. And I'm just wondering if it's true. The idea of soulmates. You know, like knowing that someone out in the world is there waiting for me to find them?"
"Soulmates are real, depending on the person," the goddess answered, "If they believe, then the universe grants them a soulmate."
Marinette was silent for a while. "What happens if I wish for that?"
"A soulmate? I'm sorry Marinette, but wishing to meet your soulmate directly is something the miraculous can't do. It could nudge you in the right direction, but you'll find your soulmate at the right time. And nothing you could do can change that," Tikki explained.
"Nudge huh?" she paused over that answer. The kwami could already see the gears turning in her head.
"I think I know what my next wish is," she smiled as Tikki nodded for her to continue.
"Whatever makes you happy, Marinette."
The ravenette took a deep breath as she made her wish.
"I wish for anyone to love me romantically. Tikki spots on!"
And just like that the magic ladybugs and bright lights appeared again, causing Marinette to jump in her bed, before calming down again.
That should do it, she thought as she settled down for the night ready for sleep to take over.
"Don't forget, Marinette. Tomorrow is the day of Chloe's party. Adrien said that he was going to pick you up around 6 in the evening remember?" Tikki reminded her.
Unfortunately, her words fell deaf on the girl's ear. She was already asleep.
Tikki smiled as she laid on the edge of Marinette's pillow, falling in a deep slumber herself. Little did they know the consequences of the ravenette's wish were already taking effect…
MLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLBMLB
I know I didn't update in a while and I said I would go through with the December prompts, but look at where I'm at now. I still plan on following through with it, but it may take a while. Thanks for reading!